Weekly Bulletin – February 9 2018

THE PAST WEEK

Wednesday evening was an ‘on the air’ event combined with tea and chat. Unfortunately the club’s K3 exhibited some DSP error codes when powered up, but they didn’t prevent the rig from functioning. The errors should be corrected over the weekend, but there’s no clue yet as to why they occurred – perhaps a Jonah left over from the LPH fire alarm debacle when the rig was last used! Thanks to Ian, M0IAD who provided a portable antenna in the form of a fishing pole with long length of wire and some dubious co-ax. Amazingly, the K3 was able to match the antenna very well on Top Band and on 20 metres. SWR of 1.7:1 was just about acceptable on 40 and 80!
Possibly due to antenna deficiencies (sorry Ian, no offence) the general background noise level seemed to be a couple of ‘S’ points down on the LPH site. Hopefully a good omen? Usable signals were heard (Fone and CW) on 160, 80 and 40 metres, although G3WOR did not log any QSOs.

Whilst there will almost certainly be microphone with any of the club rigs, it can’t always be guaranteed that a Morse key will be provided. If you want to work CW, you need to bring a key. Both the IC7300 and the K3 take a 1/4” jack plug for a straight key.

RAGCHEW

PROPAGATION

HF:

A SOLAR MINIMUM SUNSPOT: With Solar Minimum right around the corner, sunspot counts are at an almost 10-year low. So it came as a surprise yesterday when a relatively large sunspot emerged near the sun’s eastern limb. AR2699 has a primary dark core larger than Earth with many smaller magnetic condensations trailing behind it, in all stretching more than 75,000 km across the sun’s surface. Rare “solar minimum sunspots” are capable of intense explosions just like sunspots during more active phases of the solar cycle.

Not sure how this may have affected HF but there was very erratic propagation on 40 metres yesterday, with distant stations sounding as if they were ‘next door’, then disappearing below the noise for a minute or so, only to become very strong again.

VHF/UHF:

As is often the case, the Tuesday activity/contest event was quite well patronised, with the /P guys on hilltops having a definite advantage. Propagation on 2 metres wasn’t particularly good, but stations were heard from PA, ON, DK as well as locals. Not much from further north in the UK. Beacons were also relatively quiet.

Beacons often heard in our area:

VHF:

GB3WSX – IO80QW – 70.007 MHz

GB3BAA – IO91PS – 70.016 MHz

F1ZXK – JN18KF – 144.438 MHz

F5ZSF – IN88GS – 144.409 MHz

GB3VHF – JO01EH – 144.430 MHz

ON0VHF – JO20HP – 144.418 MHz

UHF:

F5XBA – JN18KF – 432.830 MHz

GB3UHF – JO01EH – 432.430 MHz

ON0UHF – JO20ET – 432.567 MHz

DX NEWS

HF:

This week’s bulletin was made possible with information provided by
The Daily DX, the OPDX Bulletin, 425 DX News, DXNL, Contest Corral
from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks
to all.

GEORGIA, 4L. Furkan, TA7AOF and Golkem, TA7AZC are QRV as 4L/TA7AOF
and 4L/TA7AZC, respectively, until February 12. Activity is on the
HF bands with a focus on various digital modes. This includes being
entries in the CQ World Wide WPX RTTY contest. QSL to home calls.

JAMAICA, 6Y. Yuri, VE3DZ will be QRV as 6Y2T from February 13 to
20. Activity will be on the HF bands. This includes being an entry
in the upcoming ARRL International DX CW contest. QSL to home call.

THE GAMBIA, C5. Alan, G4DJX, Jessica, M6LPJ, Polly, M6POG, Morgan,
M6MXD and Stan, M6SQO are QRV as C5DX until February 16 while
visiting the Senior High School in Farafenni. QSL direct to G4DJX.

MOROCCO, CN. A group of operators will be QRV as CN2DF and CN2FR
from February 13 to 20. Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters using
CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31 with two stations active. QSL via DL7DF.

CAPE VERDE, D4. Henning, OZ1BII will be QRV as D44EE from Praia
Santa Maria, Santiago Island, IOTA AF-005, from February 15 to 20.
Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters using only CW. This includes
being active in the upcoming ARRL International DX CW contest as a
Single Op/All Band/Low Power entry. QSL to home call.

PHILIPPINES, DU. Dindo, DU1UD is QRV as DX8TT from Tawi-Tawi, IOTA
OC-174, and DX8MAP from Cagayan De Sulu Island, IOTA OC-105, during
2018. Activity is on the HF bands in his spare time, and on short
notice. QSL via operator’s instructions.

ISLE OF MAN, GD. Billy, GM0OBX, Jonathan, MM0OKG and Stevie, MM0VPY
are QRV as MT0IXD from Scarlett Point on the Isle of Man, IOTA
EU-116, until February 12. Activity is on the HF bands using CW,
SSB and RTTY. This includes being an entry in the CQ World Wide WPX
RTTY contest. QSL via M0OXO.

SARDINIA, IS0. Simone, IS0AFM is QRV with special call sign IR0FOC
from Cagliari until December 31 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of
the First Class CW Operators’ Club, or FOC. QSL direct to home
call.

ST. LUCIA, J6. Charles, KG9N will be QRV as J6/KG9N from Saint
Lucia Island, IOTA NA-108, from February 13 to 27. Activity will be
on the HF bands. This includes being an entry in the upcoming ARRL
International DX CW contest. QSL to home call.

JAPAN, JA. Special event station 8J3B is QRV until June 26 during
the 100th anniversary of the Lake Biwa Rowing Song. QSL direct to
JK3IJQ.

AUSTRIA, OE. The United Nations ARCDXC will be QRV as 4U0R on World
Radio Day, which is February 13. QSL via UA3DX.

NETHERLANDS, PA. A group of operators are QRV as PA2018BP until
March 9 to commemorate Robert Baden Powell, founder of the Scout
Movement. QSL via PA3EFR.

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA, V2. Paul, VA3ZC will be QRV as V26PE from
Jolly Harbour on Antigua, IOTA NA-100, from February 13 to 27.
Activity will be on 40, 30 and 20 meters using JT65, FT8, and some
SSB. QSL to home call.

BELIZE, V3. Torsten, DG7RO and Alexandra, DO5ALX are QRV as V31TF
and V31RU, respectively, until February 25. Activity is on the HF
bands using SSB, RTTY and some FT8. This includes being active in
the CQ World Wide WPX RTTY contest, and the upcoming ARRL
International DX CW and CQ World Wide 160 Meter SSB contests. QSL
to home calls.

TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS, VP5. Pat, K0PC will be QRV as VP5/K0PC
from Caicos, IOTA NA-002, from February 13 to 20. Activity is on
the HF bands. This includes being active as VP5K in the upcoming
ARRL International DX CW contest. QSL to home call.

VIET NAM, XV. BJ, WA7WJR is QRV as XV9WJR from Bien Hoa until
February 14. Activity is mainly on 40 and 20 meters using primarily
CW. QSL direct to home call.

OPERATION APPROVED FOR DXCC CREDIT. The following operation is
approved for DXCC credit: Palestine, E44WE, operation from March
23, 2017 to March 23, 2018.

Please see February 2018 QST, page 87, and the ARRL and WA7BNM
Contest Web Sites for details.

VHF/UHF:

All times – Local

13th February – 432MHz FMAC – 19.00-20.00

13th February – 432MHz UKAC – 20.00-22.30

15th February – 50MHz FMAC – 19.00-20.00

15th February – 50MHz UKAC – 20.00-22.30

22ndFebruary – 70MHz FMAC – 19.00-20.00

22nd February – 70MHz UKAC – 20.00-22.30

FINALÉ

From last Wednesday’s meeting it’s obvious that we still have issues between those who wish to operate on the air and those who want to chat. Nobody’s fault as such, but we need to come up with a viable solution. Headphones are not the entire answer, due to the vicious circle effect. Some form of temporary audio shielding is needed – nothing expensive as we may eventually get a shack! Ideas on a postcard please or via WADARC Discuss.